Some May Like It Hot But Football Players Find No Treat In Heat

Two high school football players in Phoenix, Ariz., died 10 days apart last month during preseason practice.

Eleven members of the Philadelphia Eagles were hospitalized after the first day of workouts.

Letters were mailed out to the 8,000 season ticket-holders at the University of North Carolina, requesting them to bring their own drinking water to Saturday's season-opening football game against The Citadel. Because of water restrictions caused by a recent drought, the water in the lavatories will be turned on only between periods.

More than 60 people across the country -- 80 percent from the South -- have died from heat stress since July. Many of the deaths came after exercising.

Beating the heat has been a major concern this summer on college campuses, where thousands of football players have been practicing twice a day, two hours a session, in preparation for the 1986 season.

Two college football players have died after practice in the past three weeks, although doctors said neither death was directly related to heat.

Willie Ryles, a sophomore defensive tackle at the University of Alabama, died after collapsing during practice and lapsing into a coma with a blood clot on the brain. Eric Sorey, a freshman fullback at Southern Mississippi, died of a heart attack after sustaining leg cramps in practice.

The only scare in Florida occurred three weeks ago in Tallahassee, where redshirted freshman tailback Sammie Smith of Apopka was hospitalized with severe cramps after losing 13 pounds on the second day of practice. He returned to action two days later.

Preseason practice is the most grueling three weeks of the season, players said, namely because of the heat.

''The heat was quite a problem in the beginning,'' University of Central Florida tailback Elgin Davis said. ''But you have no choice but to get used to it. The more you practice, the more you're able to stand it.''

''Water, water and water,'' said Chris Smith, head football trainer at the University of Alabama. ''You give the players as much water as possible.''

Football players can lose 10 or more pounds of body fluid during a two- hour practice, trainers said. The object is to replenish that fluid as quickly as possible.

''You've got to have water in a player,'' said Skip Hunter, head trainer at North Carolina. ''That's the whole basis of athletic training.''

''Players look at me like I'm crazy when I hold a half gallon of water in front of them and tell them to drink it,'' FSU trainer Randy Oravetz said. ''I tell them when you have to urinate, you'll know you're filled up.''

Most college football teams permit players to drink as much water as they want during practice. Electrolyte drinks -- Gatorade and Squencher -- also are available during practice, and electrolyte tablets are served with meals.

During a major drought three weeks ago in North Carolina, the Tar Heels took water breaks every 10 minutes, Hunter said, adding that the team goes through about 50,000 paper cups a season.

The University of Arizona doesn't use any cups during practice. Instead, trainers carry around portable water fountains for the players to get their drinks.

Players are encouraged to pour the water on their heads as well as down their throats. If you keep your head cool, trainers said, you can cool your body.

That is why it is common to see players on the sidelines holding their helmets instead of wearing them. Heat escapes through the top of the head; if the head is covered, the heat has no place to go.

''We had a real problem with that at Purdue,'' said Arizona trainer Sue Hillman, a former trainer for the Boilermakers. ''A lot of the players liked to wear bandanas. Some wore them under their helmets, which made it twice as hot.''

Some colleges have been forced to cancel practices this summer because of sweltering heat.

Southern Mississippi has a heat station to analyze radiation, temperature and humidity. A reading combining those three elements is taken every 30 minutes to determine if it is safe to practice.

''We've devised a formula to tell us if we're in the danger area,'' Southern Miss trainer Larry ''Doc'' Harrington said. ''If we are, we alert the coaches, and they cut practice.''

On game days, that formula means very little, though. It will be a hot day in January when a college will cancel a home game because of heat.

Many do the next best thing: schedule night games.

Four of Florida's six college football teams -- Florida State, Central Florida, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman -- scheduled almost all of their home games this season at night. Miami scheduled about half of its home games at night.

Florida is the only state school that prefers to play in daylight, although the Gators pushed back their first two home games from 1:30 to 4 p.m.

(The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who usually play at 4 p.m. this time of year, have moved up the kickoff of their game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers in Tampa to 1 p.m. to accommodate television. All three of the Bucs' home preseason games were at night.)

''Our players prefer to play between noon and 1:30,'' Florida trainer Chris Patrick said. ''We found that at 4 p.m. the temperature starts going down, but the humidity starts going up.''

Florida has been very fortunate so far because Gainesville has received a lot of rain. The Gators, who played in a steady rain Saturday against Georgia Southern, have practiced in water quite frequently.

''Heat hasn't been a problem for us,'' Patrick said. ''We've got a different concern this year. Our feet are beginning to web.''